MovieChat Forums > Two-Lane Blacktop (1971) Discussion > james taylor was like a zombie in this f...

james taylor was like a zombie in this film


even the great warren oates had to act down so not to counter dennis wilson and james tayor's lifeless performances too much.

reply

It was clearly designed to portray them as emotionless, lifeless, passive blow-abouts without any real reason in life.

Now that's not to say that they did it well, being armatures and all but that's surely the intention.

reply

No, neither Taylor or Wilson were great actors, but they were both a good fit for the characters they played here. I've been around cars my entire life, and have known guys just like these two.

reply

In many ways their roles are as misunderstood as Hopper and Fonda in Easy Rider - who were not anti- establishment heroes, but sell outs who decided to give up and live the easy life.

reply

...but they were both a good fit for the characters they played here.
Agreed, but they were just so damn uninteresting and their characters had little of interest to say. What they saw in The Girl to chase her around like they did, I'll never know. In fact I don't think I want to know.

reply

LoL...no wonder he didn't make movies after this one. He was downright catatonic in this. Dennis Wilson didn't help with his constant doped out look either in just about every scene he is in.

reply